SAT II US History : SAT Subject Test in United States History

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for SAT II US History

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Example Questions

Example Question #51 : Facts And Details In U.S. Political History From 1899 To The Present

In the first hundred days of the Roosevelt administration Franklin Roosevelt sought to pass what became known as the "New Deal." What was the purpose of the New Deal?

Possible Answers:

To reform the broken finance industry

To enforce moral laws, like Prohibition, with renewed vigor

To provide relief to American Citizens and to stimulate economic recovery

A repeal of most of the laws that were passed by Herbert Hoover

Correct answer:

To provide relief to American Citizens and to stimulate economic recovery

Explanation:

Roosevelt was focused on the three R's, Relief, Recovery, and Reform. His first goal was to pass programs to provide relief to the millions out of work, homeless, and impoverished around the nation.

Example Question #52 : Facts And Details In U.S. Political History From 1899 To The Present

One of the programs from the New Deal, The CCC, otherwise known as the Civilian Conservation Corps was passed in 1933. What was its purpose? 

Possible Answers:

To provide jobs working on infrastructure projects for the government

To create a job agency that would find jobs for the unemployed

To create a group of volunteers made up of the jobless who would do work conserving federal land

To create the precursor to the National Guard

Correct answer:

To provide jobs working on infrastructure projects for the government

Explanation:

The CCC was a jobs program designed to take in single unemployed men 28 and younger. They were put to work on infrastructure projects around the nation on government land. The idea was that these men would have a bed and meals fed to them, as well as a small paycheck, which would help them, and the government benefited because they had large projects done by these workers.

Example Question #53 : Facts And Details In U.S. Political History From 1899 To The Present

Which of the following laws from the 1920's did Franklin Roosevelt repeal during his presidency?

Possible Answers:

McNary–Haugen Farm Relief Bill

World War Adjusted Compensation Act

The Eighteenth Amendment

Immigration Act of 1924

Correct answer:

The Eighteenth Amendment

Explanation:

The Eighteenth Amendment, better known as prohibition, was repealed in 1933 by FDR. This law had been in place for 13 years by the time FDR repealed it. He felt that the people of the U.S. were not heeding the law, and it was causing the government to lose out of tax income, so it would be better to repeal it and allow government oversight.

Example Question #54 : Facts And Details In U.S. Political History From 1899 To The Present

One of the landmark programs of the 20th Century, the Social Security Act was passed in 1935. What was its purpose?

Possible Answers:

To give healthcare insurance to workers

To create a retirement account for workers

To provide insurance for those who had lost heir money in the stock market crash

To provide assistance to vulnerable populations

Correct answer:

To provide assistance to vulnerable populations

Explanation:

The Social Security Act was made to provide for people who were deemed to be part of at risk or vulnerable populations. These were the elderly, widows, fatherless children, the poor, and the unemployed.

Example Question #55 : Facts And Details In U.S. Political History From 1899 To The Present

In 1934 The SEC, or Securities Exchange Commission was founded. What was its goal?

Possible Answers:

To regulate banks 

To regulate the stock exchange and adjacent organizations 

To seize assets of stockbrokers who lost the nation's fortune and redistribute them

To safeguard the federal bank

Correct answer:

To regulate the stock exchange and adjacent organizations 

Explanation:

The SEC was, and remains, responsible for making sure nobody is tampering with the stock exchange and other exchanges. The idea was that because the stock market had previously had no overseers, this caused the system to run amok, causing the crash that started the depression. The SEC was made to make sure this did not happen again (even though it totally did).

Example Question #56 : Facts And Details In U.S. Political History From 1899 To The Present

A major part of the New Deal, The TVA, or Tennessee Valley Authority, was responsible for what?

Possible Answers:

Getting people to move to the under-developed region of the Tennessee River

Generating economic opportunity in the impoverished South

To oversee the work of farmers 

Combating outlaws in the Appalachia region 

Correct answer:

Generating economic opportunity in the impoverished South

Explanation:

The TVA was an organization that built hydroelectric dams, created flood controls, and modernized society along the Tennessee River. All of these projects led to greater economic opportunity for the people of Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia, Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, and North Carolina.

Example Question #57 : Facts And Details In U.S. Political History From 1899 To The Present

Part of the New Deal, The Homeowners Loan Corporation, was created in 1933 in order to _______________.

Possible Answers:

refinance home loans that were in default

take over insolvent loans from banks

regulate the banking industries use of home loans

forgive home loan debt to ease the burden on people

Correct answer:

refinance home loans that were in default

Explanation:

The Purpose of the Homeowners Loan Corporation was to take over the many home loans that were in default across the nation. They did this by refinancing the loans so the home owner could repay the bank, and have more agreeable loan conditions from the government.

Example Question #58 : Facts And Details In U.S. Political History From 1899 To The Present

Why was the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, otherwise known as the Wagner Act, so revolutionary for its time?

Possible Answers:

It guaranteed the right of workers to organize into unions and to collectively bargain

It banned people from forming unions

It established a federal minimum wage

It created a set of basic workplace safety regulations

Correct answer:

It guaranteed the right of workers to organize into unions and to collectively bargain

Explanation:

In the 1800's and early 1900's people had attempted to create unions, only to be met by violence on the part of factory owners, management, and the police; however, in 1935 FDR changed this when he passed the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, which made the formation of unions an accepted practice.

Example Question #59 : Facts And Details In U.S. Political History From 1899 To The Present

Franklin Roosevelt got himself embroiled in a bit of scandal over his so-called Court-Packing Plan. What was he attempting to do?

Possible Answers:

Allow the President to forcibly remove justices from the Supreme Court

Re-organize the court system

Change the procedure for jury selection

Add more justices to the Supreme Court

Correct answer:

Add more justices to the Supreme Court

Explanation:

FDR kept meeting resistance to his New Deal plan from the Supreme Court. Many of the justices on the court were left over from the 12 years of Republican Presidents that came before him. In order to change the makeup of the court to favor his policies he proposed a law that would expand the number of justices to a number that would give him the votes needed to prevent the court from overruling his policies.

Example Question #291 : U.S. Political History

The many government agencies the New Deal created became known as what?

Possible Answers:

The Cabinet 

The Pentagon 

Big Brother

The alphabet soup

Correct answer:

The alphabet soup

Explanation:

Due to the long names of these new organizations their names were often shortened into acronyms. This meant the names were broken down to a jumble of letters. As such the nickname of alphabet soup began to stick.

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